Day 24: Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000)

After the first film of the Millennium era of Godzilla films left me disappointed, I was really hoping that it would pick back up with the next film. And thankfully, Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000) did just that. At least it did for me, it seems that the general consensus is that film is worse than the previous one. But I would wholeheartedly disagree. The film is not connected to the previous film plot wise, instead having an opening prologue that creates its own lore. The attack on Japan in 1954 still occurred, but this time it is the Godzilla from this film that was the perpetrator, and he was never killed. The devastation to Tokyo meant that Osaka became the new capitol of Japan, but even here was attached in 1966 when Godzilla attacked the first nuclear power plant in the country, causing the government to shut down all nuclear energy facilities. Thirty years later the first plasma energy plant is built, but again Godzilla attacks, putting a stop to this endeavour also. This means that a plan is put together to destroy Godzilla once and for all, which involves the creation of a tiny black hole that would suck Godzilla up. However, while experimenting a prehistoric dragonfly swarm is awakened, and mutates into Megaguirus, creating another threat that must be dealt with.

That is possibly the longest synopsis I have written, and half of what I wrote is taken care of in the opening prologue. This is mostly because the prologue is the most interesting part of this narrative. I really appreciated that this film gave at least a back story to the history of Godzilla in Japan, and it didn’t bother me that the ending of the original was retconned. It was much better than just having Godzilla be there with no real explanation at all. It is a quick and fun way of establishing the world as well as establishing our main character and her motivations. Unfortunately, the rest of the narrative falls into the same tropes and plot point that we have seen however many times now. A weapon is being built to kill Godzilla, but this ends up creating a new monster. It’s absolutely fine, but in rethreading in this way I just find myself struggling to care more and more.

What this film does have though is some really fun monster action. The CGI in some of these scenes is still not the best, although it does seem to have improved a little form the previous film. And while I am still not 100% sold on the design of this Godzilla, it has grown on me a little from the previous film, possibly because I have seen it used previously so I am fine with it. But none of this really matters when the action scenes are as fun as they are. There is one particular scene early on which is basically a scene from a horror film and its done really well. It was also felt a lot more graphic than I think it was because of how it was shot and edited, but while watching I audibly exclaimed ‘Jesus Christ’ because it really caught me off guard. And then the final fight scene between Godzilla and Megaguirus is one of my favourites from the whole series. It doesn’t feel like two men in suits just taking lumps out of each other. There is thought put into the action, with both creatures learning and acting on previous moments to help in their cause. It works really well because it means the fight never feels overly repetitive.

I was pleasantly surprised by this film. The narrative as a whole doesn’t grip me as much as I would like, but everything around this is done really well. And in the end Godzilla is killed, meaning that the next film of this era is going to be a standalone once again. That makes me a little excited because it means the filmmakers aren’t beholden to any narrative points or characters. A clean slate. Lets hope they can capitalise.